


Hymn

by whimsicality



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Canonish Ramblings, Character Study, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slice of Life, Tumblr Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 12:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12481864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicality/pseuds/whimsicality
Summary: Various scenes in the developing relationship between Ella Surana and Zevran during the Blight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song by Kesha
> 
> Marked as complete because scenes are added as I'm inspired, with no guarantee of more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the prompt: 'In the dark kiss' for Ella/Zevran

Ella knows the others see her as too soft and sweet for her own good. They respect her ever-growing magical prowess in battle, and for the most part are content with her leadership. But whenever they’re not in the midst of action, or facing a stranger they must impress, they all persist in treating her like a little sister who must be protected from her own kindness and naivety. 

She loves them all dearly, but it is frustrating to be viewed as simple or weak when her life has never allowed her to be either of those things. And it is especially frustrating when Zevran, whom she decidedly does _not_ view as a brother, is affected by the way the others treat her.

She is small, and kind, and yes, perhaps she sometimes allows her optimism to outweigh her common sense when dealing with strangers. But she is a woman, with at least twenty years of life under her belt, and she knows what she wants.

So when Zevran’s flirtations are dampened by a disapproving glare from Wynne across the fire, Ella takes matters into her own hands.

She stands to her feet and takes Zevran’s hand, pulling until he obligingly gets to his feet and follows her as she leads him behind the nearest tent and out of view of prying eyes. When she turns to face him, his head is tilted to the side in clear curiosity, his dark eyes barely visible without the light of the fire. He opens his mouth to speak, but she doesn’t let him, tired of words and waiting. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” she says, very serious. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

His eyes widen, barely able to maintain his customary smirk, and she decides to accept that as assent. He is more than capable of stopping her if he wishes, and she is sure he wishes to do no such thing. He is barely taller than her so she only has to lift her heels a few inches off the ground to reach his lips with her own. He is stiff at first, surprised and unsure, but she doesn’t stop, sliding her hands around his neck to tangle in his hair and letting her whole weight fall into him. 

There’s a brief moment where she doubts herself and then his warm, strong fingers are curved around her waist, holding her up, and his tongue is parting her lips, sure and talented. When she is breathless with joy and desire, he pulls back just enough to speak, his lips brushing against hers with every word. “Oh, my warden, I want you to do absolutely anything you wish to me.”

She laughs, almost dizzy with delight, and kisses him again. “I want to do everything.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a lot angstier, dealing with the Broken Circle quest.

“I am not always nice,” Ella objected, over the fond and doubting smiles of her companions. “I can be mean when I want to.”

Zevran raised an eyebrow and Morrigan scoffed. “You are a sickening ball of sunshine.”

Ella frowned. “There was a Templar in the Tower, Cullen. He,” she shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “He liked me. Or so everyone insisted on telling me.” Her frown turned darker, sadder, than the others usually got to see. “I’d seen what happened to mages when Templars _liked_ them.”

“Did he?” Zevran sounded furious, and Morrigan, Leliana, and Alistair all looked equally fierce.

“No,” Ella said with a small smile, standing on her toes so she could brush a kiss across Zevran’s cheek. “He never touched me.” Zevran looked like a stunned ox, as he always did when she doled out casual affectionate gestures, and Leliana and Alistair hid their snickers in each other’s shoulders. “He just made me uncomfortable.” She snorted, bitter. “His idea of flirting was to tell me that he’d been selected to wield the blade if I failed my harrowing, and that he would have killed me, however sad it made him.”

Her friends were back to looking like dark thunderclouds and Ella tucked her hand in Zevran’s and squeezed it. “My point was, that I was not nice to him. I was often quite rude in fact.”

Alistair grinned. “I bet you were.”

“I’m serious,” Ella insisted. “Being kind does not mean being a pushover. And I am kind, but I’m not weak.”

–

The doors closed behind them with an ominous thud that Ella didn’t even hear. Rhona and Hayden were lying just inside, bodies sprawled and blood spattered. A broken cry died in her throat and she fell to her knees, reaching out to touch Hayden’s lifeless fingers, still warm with the remnants of life. “No.”

She’d heard Greagoir’s words, and she’d seen the fear in the eyes of the Templars, but she hadn’t believed it could be as bad as they said. They were all afraid of magic, of even the simplest of spells. Their fear wasn’t new to her.

But this.

This was new. This grief. This aching loss. The memories of her mother’s tears and her father’s angry shouts when the Templars took her had been her worst memories, her greatest pain. But it had been dulled by years, by a life, limited and controlled, but filled with friends and moments of joy.

Teaching Hayden how to braid his hair. Learning the perfect trick for ice spells from Rhona. And now they were dead. Abandoned and torn apart. 

A gentle hand touched her shoulder and her breath shuddered in her throat. She blinked fiercely, scrubbing a hand over her face to brush away the burning tears. “Some of them have to be alive.”

“I am sure they are, doce. And we will find them.”

– 

The apprentice quarters, usually bustling with mages late for their lessons, whispered gossip, and frequent magical mishaps, were quiet. The air was heavy, and every corpse strewn around the room was another blow, until she felt breathless and bruised.

“Is there where you slept?” Leliana asked, her voice hushed but light, almost forcibly so.

Ella nodded and cleared her throat, not trusting her voice. “I had the top bunk, over there. Rhona, Rhona slept below me. She-” Ella stopped, her throat aching with unshed tears and held back screams.


End file.
